04-18-2018, 09:34 AM
(04-18-2018, 02:14 AM)kevin Wrote: I thought his Dallas O Line OPENED holes for rookie Ohio State RB and GAVE TIME AND PROTECTION to rookie QB in 2016. I was very impressed with the Dallas O Line as others were applauding these 2 rookies. My hope is Bengals end up with that type of O Line. Now, here is the catch, WE DON'T HAVE THE BLOCKERS. Let us not put all the blame on the last coach, that's too easy. We need more than just this new coach. I would love to see us draft Wynn or Hernandez and also get Price or Daniels in first 2 rounds this month. THAT, plus this new coach is really addressing the worst O Line in NFL. Most QB' don't get up from the hits Dalton took all season, and soon he won't either. That Dalton kept getting up and hit Boyd for game winning bomb against Ravens shows Dalton is still a Pro Bowl quarterback but we can not have the worst O Line in NFL and expect anything but disaster. Please Mike Brown, give Dalton some blocking by not just bringing in this coach, but also going O Line early and often this month. If you can turn worst O Line in NFL into good solid Paul Brown type blocking, we have the finesse players to ride that blocking to a Super Bowl run.
I always loved Ohio State coach Earl Bruce story. He said he had a lousy season. He was talking to Woody Hayes and said. " Woody, I don't get it. The media said I had the best recruiting class in the USA. Want went wrong ? ". Woody told him, " You didn't recrute enough Big Boys in the Trenches. Too much finesse ". Coach Bruce said he suddenly knew Woody was right, not the media opinion of who has the best recruiting class. Now I love this story and it applies to NFL. On Draft Day I have heard year after year the media assume Lions or Browns just paved way to Super Bowl on draft picks. You can't listen to the media. This draft they will be all over the QBs, WR's, RB's taken as they do every year. I wish I had money for every QB Cleveland has picked that TV Draft spent entire weekend talking Super Bowl on. What Bengals need is what Woody told Bruce. Big Boys in The Trenches, Not Finesse. We have too much Finesse and Not Enough Blocking and Tackling. The Bengals need to get Tough to Play Tough in a league with Steelers and Ravens. You have to block and tackle in this league, this isn't the west coast surf and turf football, this is smash mouth rain and snow football. Carson and now Dalton get killed because we don't man up in the trenches. BLOCKING is the only way to Play-Off Wins, the type Blocking we had in 1981 and 1988, but you have to Draft it as we did back then. This month, DRAFT BLOCKING.
If we draft blocking and have this coach from Dallas, we just increased going to the play-offs 75 %. Now if we don't draft blocking, play-off chan Hopefully ces are Zero. I hope to be celebrating new blockers before month is out. I'm sure nobody wants more blockers more than Andy Dalton. I can't even imagine playing murderers row Steelers and Ravens defenses 4 games with worst blocking in NFL. Dalton needs for the line to get some rushing yards and for the line to protect him in the pocket. Any QB lining up behind Bengals O Line as it is now, has to be wondering if he has enough life insurance for his wife and kids. Hopefully this new coach with some top draft picks, and Bengals start laying the hits on the other team as in days of Munoz, Montoya and Associates.
I agree that the Bengals need an infusion of talent at 2 line spots. However.....
The way the old line coach did things was from the mid 90's. PA was in charge of blocking schemes, protection, and over all philosophy along the line. It was wrong and ill-suited to the talent the Bengals have. I documented this in several threads where I referenced coach and analyst (Lapham, especially) analysis with the problems PA's schemes were causing and how it didn't fit what the guys on the roster were good at. In any sport, bad coaches play to their personal strengths and ideals. Great coaches play to their players strengths. PA was a bad coach in the end of his tenure in Cincinnati.
The Bengals definitely need a RT, and a C. No question.
The notion they need a RG, or any G, makes no sense to me. They basically have 5 with Fisher (who also can play RT if needed), OG, Westerman, Redmond, Bolling, are all capable of stepping into either G spot.
Bolling is a good player. Westerman is greatly underrated and underused. Alexander basically hid him on the bench because he wasn't good at the MID ZONE blocking - what PA was forcing on them even though it wasn't working according to Lapham. However, he's exceptional at INSIDE ZONE blocking, as seen at the end of the year when Lazor took the scheme/game planning job away from PA and switched it.
Christian Westerman is a little known, but valuable talent the Bengals drafted in 2016. Here is his draft profile. He graded out at a 5.85 (2nd or 3rd round grade in that draft). That 5.85 grade would actually make him the #3 or 4 G in this year's draft. He's only .27 points graded lower than Hernandez and .26 lower than Wynn - the #2 & 3 Gs in this draft. To spend a high draft pick on such a tiny difference in grade, especially after the PFF grades (linked below) Westerman got, makes no sense.
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2016/profiles/christian-westerman?id=2555131
Here is his PFF Grades for the action he got at the end of last season. They rated him in their 2nd highest tier at "High Quality" in BOTH run and pass blocking: https://www.profootballfocus.com/nfl/players/christian-westerman/10795
The Bengals absolutely HAVE to draft a high quality RT. Fisher is coming off of heart issues and Andre Smith is gone. They have next to nothing at RT and C. Guard is stocked with young talent to work with.
